Valve



SePt- 10, 1940- W. E. sLoAN ET AL 2,214,287

VALVE Filed Feb. '8, 1957 @BMI Num MQW www ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 10,1940 UNITEDl STATES y PATENT OFFICE VALVE nois Application February 8d.;1937, Serial No. 124,534

4 Claims.

ur invention -relates to silent-throttling de" vices generally, but isVconcerned moreparticularly with such devices as are suitable forthrottling the now vthrough flush valves from high- 5 pressure sources.One Objectis the production of a self-cleaning silent-throttling device.

A further object of the invention is the productionof a silentthrottling device which automatically adjusts itself for a substantiallyuni- LO form 'rate of ilow under widely varying supply pressures. l

It is a further `object o'f the invention to pro- 'duce a combined shutofi valve and silent-throttling device. l

It is well known that water pressures vary considerably in many watersystems from point to point, especially nthos'e water systems whichsupply tall buildings or supply municipalities laid out on hilly or-sloping'ground The water pres- 20 sure must be suiliciently great tosupply water at normal pressure to the highest points, resulting voftenjin abnormally high pressures at low points in the system. Inaddition, the water pressure Q often iiuctuates widely at a given point,owing to '-U the varying demands made uponthe system.

Because a flush Valve opens wide to allow water to flow at a rate whichis about at an optimum value when the water pressure is normal, there issuch a high rat'e\of iiow at high pressure that "0 undesirable splashingoccurs in the receptacle being flushed; accompanied by a considerableamount of noise emitted both by the discharged water and the pipingsystem `from which it W emerges.` Also, the high rate of flow resultingd" from high pressure is oftenl uneconomical in the use of Water, asthe'water in the receptacle being ushed. builds up to such a level thatthe cleansing is not effective unless the total amount of Waterallowedforthe flush is greatly increased. 'Ihe rate of ilow through aflush valve fromra point of high pressure is customarily throttled tothe desired value by a partial closing of the usual stop valve orshut-olf valve customarily installed individual to the ilush valve andbetween it and 45 the 'supply line. This arrangement overcomes thesplashing and the attendant noises at the receptacle, `as Well as theinemclent use. of water,

but with high pressure, the throttlevalve must benearly closed, wherebythe orice through -50 which' all of the water must pass at the correct55. less throughout the piping system. This noise is highlyobjectionable, particularly in residence buildings.

Any successful arrangement for reducing the throttling noise attendantup'on throttling a high pressure must be based upon the use of a. throt-5 tling orifice orpassageway which has both sufficient length andsuiiicient specific frictional retardation upon the velocity of Waterthat the throttling orifice can be enlarged sufficiently that thedesired rate or now is obtained through'gtms 10 larger oriice,v but at avelocity suiiicientlyilow that the throttling noises hereinbeforediscussed do not arise. Where throttling devices lare xed in positionthey are subject to clogging from Whatever solid particles may bepresentin the water passing through them, generally sand, but sometimesparticles of vegetable matter, and the like.

Tests have shown that a clogged throttling de. vice can be restored tonormal usefulness by separating the parts thereof and permitting them tobe washed by the water ilowing through the throttling device under `acondition of less restriction. A further object of our invention is toprovide a silent-throttling device of such a construction that the partsthereof are automatically opened periodically to permit any accumulatedforeign matter to be washed out by the ilow of water. The invention hasas a further object to provide a silent-throttling device wherein the 30silent-throttling action is secured by passing the water along opposedsurfaces which cause the silent-throttling action.

Other objects and features of the invention will become more apparentupon a further perusal of the specification in connection with theaccompanying drawing. Y

Referring now to the drawing, comprising Figuresl 1 to 6, they showsuflicient views of silentthrottling devices constructed in accordancewith 40 the features of the invention to enable the invention to beunderstood. I"

Flgure'l shows the silent-throttling device T-I t which employs a screencartridge which is normally out of the throttle opening, but is'forced45 into the throttle opening upon each operation of an associated flushvalve, and is provided with a regulating spring so proportioned that theamount of throttling is changed according to the pressure so thatthereis a substantially uniform 50 rate of'- flow under widely differingconditions of pressure;

Figure'Z shows a4 evice T-2 similar to that of Figure l except that t econtrolling spring thereof is of such characteristics that it drives thesilencing member out of the throttling port unl der a condition of noow, b t it does not automatically regulate for varyirfg pressures,reliance being had upon a manual adjustment of the amount of throttling;

Figure l3 shows silent-throttling which is a further modiiication, andit differs from Figure 2 principally in the nature and configuration ofthe throttling port and of the cooperating movable member in order tosecure Variable silent throttling by an increase of the free waterwayrather than by regulation of the area of screen member exposed for thepassage of water; l

Figure 4 is a plan view of the screen core ||2 of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional View of the core of Figure 4-taken onthe line 5 5 in the direction indicated by the arrows and showing thesilencing screens attached; and

Figure 6 shows the'throttling device T--I of Figure 1 connected up forservice.

Referring now particularly to Figure 6, water is supplied from thebranch supply pipe 60| to the receptacle R by way of the flush valve FV,the ow being suitably throttled by the throttling device T,|. 'Back ofthe wall 'W, an air chamber is provided by the pipe 603 .which isthreaded into the top opening of the tee tting 602 and capped at 600. Anair chamber, it ywill be understood, is desirable in any situation wherethe velocity of a long column of water is rapidly changed, as by thesudden closing of a valve, to-

casting |'0| having an inlet opening at the right and an outlet openingat the left. The casting is provided withv a central web member whichseparates the inlet opening from the outlet opening and through whichthere is a vertical port for throttling in connection with thesilent-throttling element ||0, formed as one unit of the illustratedtravelling assembly.

The bonnet |02 is threaded into the body portion and is arranged tothreadably receive the valve member |03. 'Ihe packing |00 seals thespace around the stem of the valve member |03 when compressed bv thepacking gland |05. The valve member |03 is provided with a reinforcedseat/member |01 for seating around ythe periphery of the central port toshutoff the flow entirely through the throttling device `when desired.This seat element is held in place by the retaining tube |08, which isprovided with a ange at the lower end thereof for this purpose, theupper end of which tube is vpartly closed to enable the tube to be heldin place by the spring |09. The

loosely fitting washer |06 is provided to enable device 'IL-3, 7

ed into the piston member |I3. The screen element ||0 is composed of twolayers of screen, inner screen and outer screen H0, drawn into a cuplikeform and stretched tightly over the core member ||2,'best showny inFigures 4 and 5. Eighty-mesh (eighty wires to the inch) screen has beenfound to be satisfactory. The screens ||5 and I0 are held in place bythe retaining ring yI8 which fits tightly after beingdriven intoposition. The screens are held in shape by the core ||2, and the core ismilled away as shown to permit water to ilow freely through the interiorof the screen cartridge. closes oi the bottom of the millect'slots inthe core ||2, rendering the bottom of the screen element impervious.

With the throttling device T-I connected for service as indicated inFigure 6, the parts are in the position shown in Figure 1 with the flushvalve FV in closed position. Now, if the ush valve FV is operated inthev usual manner, water commences to flow from the supply pipe 60|through the throttling device T-I and by way of soon enters thethrottling port, the clearance being suiiiciently small that practicallyall of the water passed by the throttling device in this position passesthrough the cartridge |0. When this condition obtains, the push on thetravelling assembly is materially increased; the cartridge entersfurther into the throttling oriiice, compressing the spring |09 stillfurther, and causing a floating equilibrium to be reached at which thedesired discharge occurs.

The spring |09 is designed to have such st iiness that the back pressuredue to the spring increases quite rapidly as the spring is compressed.

As a result of this arrangement, while the silencing element ||0 isdriven much further into the throttling port when the line pressure ishigh (100 pounds to the square inch for example) than it is when theYline pressure is low (thirty to thirty-ve pounds to the square inch),the discharge rate remains practically constant, being only The washerslightly higher at 100 pounds than it is at about thirty to thirty-vepounds pressure to the square the top and through as much of 'the sideas is exposed above the throttling orifice. Therefore, as the silencingelement is driven further into the throttling orifice, the area throughwhich the inflow of water' can take place-through theassembly M0 isproportionately restricted. The stiiness of spring l 09 is preferablysuch that a slight increase in the iiow above that just necessary tomaintain the screen element H0 within the throttling oriiice will suiiceto drive the screen element further into the orice, until the bottomline thereof is very .nearly brought within the throttling orice. Thislatter position is the one assumed by the screen element when thetravelling assembly has been moved in by a maxi- Y below the normalamount, the screen element I0 is withdrawn entirely from the throttlingorifice. This action occurs before the flush valve hasv entirely seated'and while there is still a substantial flow of water (known as therefill iiow). i(This flow of water along the sides ,of the screeneleme'nt I I0 tends to loosen any lodgedJ particles and permit them tobe washed away. This action is made' easy because the screen is removedlfrom the throttling orifice, wherebyanylodged particles are not wedgedbetween the exposed screen and some otherpart of the device. Thiswashing operation taking placeiat the end of a flush is followed by afurther washing operation taking place at the beginning of the nextsucceeding operation of the flush valve before the screen can take upits throttling position` When the flush valve FV has finally seated andthe flow has entirely ceased, the .parts are returned to the positionindicated in the drawing. Because of the fact that theF rate of flowmust oi necessity reach a quite substantial value before the water takeshold of the travelling assem-` bly and forces the screen member I I0within the throttling orifice, and because the pressure drop at thethrottling orifice suddenly increases" when lthis movement takes place,there is a tendency for a water-hammer to occur at the beginning of eachflush. This tendency is largely overcome by the piston H3, which fitsrather closely into the cylinder formed at the bottom of thevcasting|0I. I'he sudden movement of the travelling as- A slight swishing noiseof momentary duration y is often observed at the instant that thetravelling assembly is entering the throttling orifice, but this noiselis not ordinarily noticeable except to someone near the device who isparticularly listening'for it. Within the range of pressures' previously'mentionedA for which the device of Figure v1 was designed, this devicehas'proved to be almost completely quiet. It will be observed that thedevice should be about as quiet at one position of throttlingadjustmentas at another because the core ||2 of the silencing element iscut awayso that the interior islargely hollow andcr the only material effectproduced by changing the amount that the silencing element is insertedin-l to the throttling orifice is in the entrance area exposed to theflow of water. By this arrangement, the area of the entering vscreen isvaried according to the extent to Y ich-the ,travelling assembly ismoved, but the' velocity of the water that moves through the screen issubstantially In the event that a slightly greater flow is required atthe fixture than is obtained with the device adjusted as shown in thedrawing, the valve element |03; maybe adjusted inwardly through thescrew-driver slot in the top end of the stem thereof, bringing down theupper end of the regulating spring |09 a corresponding amount. Under.this condition, the travelling assembly is prevented from entering sofar into the throttling orifice, whereby a greater flow is permitted,which greater flow remains substantially uniform over a wide pressurerange as previously disclosed. f

It may be pointed out that spring ||9 is provided to keep thevtravelling assembly from standing normally at apposition below thatshown in the drawing; as it is desired that the travelling assembly beacted upon and started to be drawn into the throttling position almostas s oon as iiow starts to take place.

When a new installation is made, the throttling device is preferablyinstalled with the valve element I 03 turned all the wayin and with theseat element |01 firmly in contact with the fixed seat surrounding thethrottling orifice, thereby entirely closing o' the opening through thethrottling device. In this position of the device, the relatively strongspring 109 pushes the travelling'assembly down until spiral spring ||9is almost completely compressed. The screen element ||0 is at thattimewell away from the entrance to the throttling port. Then, when it isdesired to'flush out the newly installed pipes, the valve element |05 isturned back one or two turns to permit a large unobstructed flow throughthe A Ypiping system and out through the flush valve to iiush out anychips and other foreign matter that may be' in the pipes to preventtheir subsequent lodgement in the throttling device or in the flush Thedevice T-I may be throttled just as an l ordinary device by adjusting/it so that the seat element |01 is at the desired distance from the xedseat, the sereen'element ||0 remaining out of throttling position.

` Referring now to Figure 2, the parts 20| to 2|9 of this device are thesame as the corresponding parts |0| to ||9 of the device of Figure 1,Iwith,

the exception-of the spring 209 and the guide member 2H'. The spring 209is made substantially weaker, or less stiff, than the spring |09,whereby when substantial flow takes place through the throttling deviceT--2 the-travelling assembly is moved until the top of the guide 2I|comes into contact with the-seat element 201,-thereby providing athrottle opening v4which depends only on the adjustment up or down ofthe valve element 203.l NFor a medium throttle opening, the valve,element may be adjusted as shown hr FigureeZ. With this adjustment, when'flow takes place, the screen element 2| is driven about one-third o'fthe way into the throttling orice, giving a medium throttle opening. Inthe event that more throttling is desired, the

valve stem 203 may be turned back toward a more open position .of thevalve element 201. In

this position, the travelling assembly is allowed' t64 move further andcarry the element 2|0 furl ther into the throttling orifice, therebygiving v'greater throttling. The vanes of 4the guide-piece 2|| are cut]down spmewhat'in the center to permit the water to pass more freely`.with the top of element 3|0.

a layer, of screen 3I6, suitably soldered in. place at the top edge andat the bottom edge thereof.

' pounds to the square inch, for example, the valve stem may be turneddown sufficiently that the throttling element 2I0 is not permitted toenter the throttling oriiice, and any desiredthrottlingis done betweenthe seat element 207 and the top lseating surface surrounding thethrottling orice, and for very low line pressures`a non-throttlingsetting is used. Thisarrangement has been found to be quite satisfactorybecause no substantial throttling noise is experienced with linepressures below about twenty-iive pounds.

Referring now particularly to Figure 3, this d'evice has parts Sillv toSIS which are similar generally to the parts IDI to H9 of Figure 1 andto the parts to 2i!) of Figure 2.` The restoring spring 309 hasrelatively weak characteristics like spring 209 of Figure 2, and unlikespring |03 of Figure l. In addition, the traveling screen element hasbeen changed to include a solid core member 312 with sloping sidescovered with screen 35. Ther throttling port in the central web of thecasting 301 has tapered sides, corresponding to the ,tapered sides ofthe throttling This throttling prt is lined with With the valve stem 303adjusted in the position shown in the drawing, the traveling assemblymoves up upon the initiation of flow until the top of the4 springsupport 3l] st "es the bottom of seat member 301. Themove ent isarrested in this position with the desireditdhmttiing sep'- arationbetween the parallel surfaces of screens 3|5 and 3|6.- In this position,whichpermits the desired owat one pressure, the velocity of the water'isminimized by the frictional drag experienced as the water passes betweenthe rough surfaces of screens 3|5 and 3| 6, whereby the surfaces can befurther apart than could smooth surfaces set for-the, same dischargerate under the same pressure.' The result is a lower velocity at whichthe flow is quiet.

It will .be understood, of course, that any other suitable-method forobtaining an equally rough and friction-possessing surface may be usedinstead of applying the screens 3|5 'and 3I6, but the screens are shownapplied here because the may be conveniently attached.

The travelling assembly returns trothe relatively non-'throttlingposition illustrated whenvl it is washed with the free ow of waterwhich` occurs at the beginning of each flush before the travellingassembly has moved-the element 3l0` into its final throttling position;and it is washed again as. it is emerging from throttling position nearthe end ofthe ush.

The throttling device T-3 may be adjusted for other throttling positionsby turning the valve stem 303 in the desired direction, less throttlingbeing experienced as the stem 303 is turned in further from theillustrated position, while the device is set forY correct throttling ofhigher pressures when the stem-303 is turned out to allow the element310 to enter into a closer relationship with the sloping walls of' thescreenlined throttling port. i.

It is to be noted that the part 350 which contains the cylinder in whichthe piston 3l3 operates is constructed as a separate part-and Iisthreaded into the main body-casting d. This construction was adopted in'order to enable the throttling element 3i@ to be placed within thehousing from below, as it is'too I arge to be passed through thethrottle opening.

U Referring again to Figure 6, it may be pointed out that the throttlingdevice may be installed between the flush valve FV and the receptacle Rif so desired. It will operate either way as regards silent throttling,but .the illustrated arrangement is preferred for it permits the waterto be shut off ahead of the flush valve when the ush valve is to'beinspected or repaired.

We claim:

1 1. A velocity-impeding throttle member composed of a deep,flat-bottomed, cup-likev screen held in place over a coreconsisting of acentral 'hub `and a number of radial screen-supporting arms.

2. A silencing cartridge composed of a supporting core and screen-likematerial surrounding,

the core and supported thereby, said core com'- prising al cylindricalsection with radial slots milled therein extending in the/directionl ofthe axis and with archannel cut around the end to place the slo incommon communication and to expose a larger inner surface of the core.

3. A throttle ,element composed of a. rigid cori` channelled to permitfree passage therethrough by way of the sides and ends thereof, acovering for. the sides 4and ends of pervious sheet material, and adiscv element lying between vone end of the core and the said coveringto block free ssage through thel core by way of'that en d.

4f throttle element for use in a silent-throttling valve, said elementbeing composed of a rigid core covered by pervious sheet material, therebeing a circularclhannel br' key way in the core having two pposed wallssubstantially parallel to the axis o the ring and into which the covermaterial is passed, and a. Y

circular key or ring` forced into the channel and frictionally engagingthe cover materialand opposed Wall of thechannel.

n WILLIAM E. sLoAN. IRVING H. RUSSELL.

